As an inner city suburb, it has a mix of residential, retail and light industrial properties. The suburb is home to Horncastle Arena and also close to many other sports venues, notably Hagley Park to the north. It is also home to one of Christchurch's main horse-racing venues, Addington Raceway.

Addington was the home of the oldest blending plant in the Southern Hemisphere until it was demolished after sustaining some damage in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The demolition of the plant sparked some controversy as the plant had been lined up to be carefully taken apart in an attempt to save Oregon timber valued at over $600,000.[2]

St Mary's Anglican Church

Central to Addington's residential area is St Mary's Anglican Church, which is an historical building surrounded by the spacious grounds and trees of Church Square. The grounds are used by the community for galas, pancake races (on Shrove Tuesday) fairs and weddings. The buildings and surrounding area is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a historic area, with registration number 7516.[3]

The Court Theatre, whose buildings were damaged in the earthquake, relocated to "The Shed" and started operating on 10 December 2011.

Manuka Cottage is a community house which serves the interests and needs of wide variety of people. Activities include mothers' group, women's day, craft and card playing groups, community lunch, computer network, play group. The community also operates a time bank, which began operating in 2012. Manuka Cottage is also used by local community groups.